A Pair of Griffin & Howe Bolt Action Rifles

Griffin & Howe rifles have been the rifle of choice for such notable sporting shooters as writers Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark, actors Bing Crosby and Clark Gable, and US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. They are an indispensable part of America’s hunting and shooting legacy. From small beginnings the company developed a reputation for excellence that led to their name becoming a household word amongst sporting shooters and hunters in the United States and across the globe.

The first of the two rifles offered in this lot from Rock Island Auction is a Griffin & Howe .308 Winchester built around a Mauser 98 action. The rifle is fitted with a Lyman Alaskan rifle-scope in Griffin & Howe quick detachable mounts and is also fitted with a Lyman aperture sight.

In addition to being known for their fine custom rifles Griffin & Howe are famous for the creation of their quick detachable side mount system which proved to be so dependable on the sporting rifles it was installed on that the US military adopted it as the standard mount for the M1 Garand when they were to be fitted with a rifle-scope.

The second of the two rifles in this Rock Island Auction lot is a Griffin & Howe in .30-06 and built around a Springfield 1903 action. This rifle is also fitted with a Griffin & Howe quick detachable side mount and appears to be fitted with an original Lyman No. 48 long slide aperture sight.

The origin of Griffin & Howe began when a carpenter named Seymour Griffin read about American President Theodore Roosevelt’s African safari in which he used a sporterized 1903 Springfield, and he decided he could make his own Springfield into a nice custom rifle also. So Seymour Griffin got a nice French walnut blank from Von Lengerke & Detmold and proceeded to use his carpentry skills to do just that. The result was so impressive that pretty soon he had a queue of people wanting him to give their 1903 Springfields the Griffin treatment. The word got around and it was in 1923 that avid shooter and commander of the Frankford Arsenal, Colonel Townsend Whelen, visited Seymour Griffin and told him about the head of the machine shop there, James Virgil Howe, whose work was of the highest quality. Whelan suggested the two not only meet but that they go into the custom rifle-making business together.

Left side view of the two Griffin & Howe rifles in this lot. With their Griffin & Howe side mounts for a rifle-scope and their Lyman aperture sights these rifles are archetypal examples of Griffin & Howe rifles.

The Griffin & Howe business grew and still exists today. You will find Griffin & Howe’s website if you click here.

Griffin & Howe are still in the business of making superb custom rifles in both the traditional and modern styles:

To see an example of their current traditional style sporting rifles click here.

The two Griffin & Howe sporting rifles coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction. The upper is a Mauser 98 in .308 Winchester and the lower one is a 1903 Springfield in 30-06.

In the Rock Island Auction sale that is coming up on June 23, 2017 there is a lot of two Griffin & Howe rifles:

The first (shown in the above picture at the top) is a Mauser 98 based rifle in .308 Winchester. This rifle is fitted with Griffin & Howe quick detachable side mounts with a Lyman Alaskan rifle-scope. Griffin & Howe’s standard fitting for their sporting rifles was to not only mount a rifle-scope but also a top quality aperture sight, usually by Lyman, and this rifle is fitted in this way. Griffin & Howe tended to favor a good aperture sight in preference to conventional open sights except on dangerous game rifles. The condition of this rifle is described by Rock Island Auction as follows: “ND – VERY GOOD: in working condition, 80% finish or better. NPRF – NON-PROFESSIONALLY REFINISHED/COLD BLUE, ETC. WB – WOOD IS BETTER FOR THE PERCENT OF FINISH RATING GIVEN.”

The second rifle (shown in the above picture at the bottom) is a Springfield 1903 in .30-06. This rifle has the Griffin & Howe side mounts for a rifle-scope although it is not fitted with one. This rifle looks to be somewhat older than the Mauser 98 and it looks like it is fitted with an original Lyman No. 48 Long Slide aperture sight. The Lyman No. 48 rates as one of the best aperture sights ever made and they have long since been out of production. The condition of this rifle is described by Rock Island Auction as follows: “OD – VERY GOOD: all original parts; none to 30% original finish. PRF – PROFESSIONALLY REFINISHED OR RESTORED. WB – WOOD IS BETTER FOR THE PERCENT OF FINISH RATING GIVEN“